1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a centralized authentication mechanism. More particularly, the invention relates to use of a centralized authentication mechanism for providing user privileges information to a networked peripheral device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Networked peripheral devices are typically multifunction devices that handle functions such as printing, scanning, copying or faxing and are often relied upon in performing enterprise level tasks. Controlling usage of a networked peripheral device means that a walk-up user of the device, i.e., one that gains access to the device locally at the device, or a remote user of the device, i.e., a non walk-up user, is allowed access to only those services and/or features available on the device that are authorized. For example, a user may have access to copying but not a printing service of a networked peripheral device that offers faxing, printing, copying and scanning services. Likewise, a user may only be allowed access to a black-and-white, but not a color printing feature of the printing service offered by the device.
Controlling usage of services and/or features offered by a networked peripheral device is often necessary for economic as well as other reasons. For example, color ink cartridges containing ink for color printing typically cost significantly more than black ink cartridges that are used for black and white printing. It may therefore be desirable to limit access to color printing features of a printer in order to save costs.
One conventional approach to controlling access to a networked peripheral device by a non-enterprise user is to program each device separately as to the access privileges of the user. This approach requires presence of an input mechanism such as a keyboard or a magnetic card reader on the device through which the user logs into the device. Following login by the user, the device examines the user's access privileges, which are maintained by the device, and allows the user access to the device based on the programmed information concerning the user's access privileges. Adoption of this approach is cumbersome since it requires separate programming of each networked peripheral device and reprogramming of each device in response to changes in access policy.
Another conventional approach to controlling access to a networked peripheral device by a non-enterprise user is to program user access privileges on a keycard that is carried by the user. Upon swiping the keycard on a card reader installed on the device, the user access policy is transmitted from the card to the device. The user is then allowed to use the device in accordance with the limitations contained in the user access policy. This approach also suffers from the drawback suffered by the previous alternative in that each individual card needs to be programmed in order to encode user access policy and reprogrammed each time the policy is revised as to that user. It would therefore be beneficial to be able to control and customize access to services and/or features of a networked peripheral device by a non-enterprise user using a centralized mechanism, which provides both enterprise user authentication and non-enterprise user authentication and access privilege information to manage device/resource usage, at the enterprise level.